Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living
by Alyssa Mason
Summary: The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. Ben/OC. Potentially AU. *Set right after Compass* Sci-Fi/Romance/Hurt/Comfort/Family *Revised*
1. Chapter 1

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally babyy3**

**Summary:** The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my first FS story. *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Potentially AU.

Chapter 1

_Keep running_, I told myself. My legs were pumping, I felt like I had nothing left in me, but my legs kept going. The aliens were catching up to us, and I wasn't backing down. _Get it together, Adriana. You can do this_, I continued motivating myself. My dad, Manuel, and I were heading to Charleston from the east edge Massachusetts. Originally, we're from Florida, but when the attack came, we had been on a flight to Boston. The plane crash landed when we were about to land, and there were only five survivors. We stuck around with each other and headed east, trying to find any hint at civilization, picking up weapons and sharpening our senses. Eventually, the rest of us were either captured or killed. My father and I are the only survivors left of that crash.

Along the way we encountered a group that was heading to Charleston, a place with electricity and hot water. By that point we were in Nevada, and we decided to head out a couple hundred more miles to see if we find anyone. After that didn't work out too well, we started to head back to MA, which was where we are right now. It's like déjà vu, being in the place you started in, like getting thrown back to square one.

Currently, we were running across the forest, trying to outrun and confuse the aliens on our tails. A group of deer loudly ran across the forest next to us, thus attracting the attention of the Skitters to us. There's a group of three and they're pretty far behind us, almost to the point where they blend into the trees. Since it's just so late at night, I could barely see as it was.

I heard the growl of the alien and shuddered a bit, imagining it painfully pinning one of those…death sentences onto my back. I didn't want to become like them. Not ever. I sent a bullet behind me in hopes it would stop one of those…things. I squeezed my eyes tight and prayed, because I was _not _looking back at those things.

"Come on, this way," my dad told me, making a sharp left into a playground. My eyes darted to a grave in the center of the playground, and I whispered a prayer to whoever it was in the ground. I took a ten second break on the swings and looked up at the night sky. By now the sky told me it was about ten or eleven at night, clearly time for sleep; sleep I wasn't going to get.

"Let's keep moving," I said to my father, getting up and heading to the other side of playground we didn't come in through. "We'll find a clearing or a road or something and just keep moving until dawn, hopefully we'll be able to rest before then, though, dad."

I sighed, this was never gonna end, was it? Just a couple of months ago I had been about to finish the eighth grade, now I'm not even really _me_ anymore. I'm just really a way-too-young survivalist out in the open, post-apocalyptic world. Hopefully Charleston is all that they say it is. I really just want the chance to feel even the slightest bit normal again. Maybe we can find camp in a library or something, I honestly really miss school. I was quite the bookworm, too. My thoughts tend to distract me a lot and that's really my weakness: me. I needed to keep my sense sharp, and move quickly and quietly.

By about three or four a.m. we had found a place to rest up for the night, or morning, really…

I woke up to the sun rising over the horizon. I decided to stay up a bit and watch the sunrise. I've always loved sunrise and sunsets. And when the sun finally rose, I decided to doze off for another hour or two; I really needed the extra sleep.

I woke again to my father shaking me, and I was alert instantly, yet earning some dark corkscrew curly hair in my face. Darn bed head. I moved the hairs out of my face and dressed quickly, grabbing some soup to eat on our way out.

"We'll keep heading down this main road, when we reach the major turnpike we'll head northeast for a couple hundred miles, then straight west toward Charleston," my father informed me as we made our way out of (the very convenient) supermarket we encountered. It was nice because the shelves weren't completely bare, so we could eat as we pleased and pack even more in our backpacks. And any other small necessity we had, the supermarket made up for it, so I thought of it was a mini vacation. Or, at least as far into a vacation as this world could allow us.

We proceeded out of the store with caution; my father told me he had heard some of the aliens roaming around the street earlier this morning.

"Wait, get down!" I said to my dad, pulling us behind a car. Two aliens were roaming around the street.

"It would be best to just avoid them, sweetheart. No need to waste our ammo," he replied.

So we waited around ten minutes before the aliens' attention was called somewhere else. I had heard a somewhat-muffled humane-sounding noise in the direction the aliens went and I grew curious.

"You heard that, too, right?" I asked my father. He nodded in response, trying to study me. It was like he almost knew what we were thinking.

"We can't follow them, Adriana. It's too dangerous!" my dad warned.

"Dad, it was a human, I'm telling you! This could be our first shot at meeting another human in months! Come on! Please try. If it doesn't work out we'll come back on our route. Please consider the possibility that there are more people out there. We just need to find them. They could help us!" I pleaded to him. My dad let out a long breath, thinking.

"Fine," he replied afterward. "But if we don't find anything we're back on foot to Charleston," my dad grunted, heading toward the direction the aliens went.

We walked quietly, a safe distance from the aliens. After about ten minutes, we saw a tent in the distance. As we came closer we noticed it wasn't just a tent, but a whole _camp_. Yes! We've found someone! Maybe we've even found a group of people! I looked at my dad, beaming. He threw his arm around me, smiling almost as much as I was. But I still proceeded with caution, I had no idea what I was going to encounter, plus we were following these demons of alien freaks.

When the aliens were twenty feet away from the camp, they were shot down by a boy who was about sixteen or seventeen years old with black hair and brown eyes. Oh hot damn, who's _that_?  
"Damn it," we heard the boy say to himself.

"Hey! Over here!" I yelled out to him. His head shot up and my dad and I ran closer to him. "Who are you?" he asked, surprised. Even his voice is sexy. Lord help me.

"I'm Manuel, or Manny, and this is my daughter Adriana, We've been traveling on foot to Charleston when we heard a noise and saw the Skitters come in this direction. We were trying to see if there was anyone out here, any form of civilization," my dad informed him.

"Well that's great, and it's nice to meet you, I'm Hal," the boy whom I thought could be Jesus on earth replied to us. My dad stared him down and there was an awkward silence.

Sensing this, Hal added, "But the Skitters know where we are now and we need to move out again. I'll have to introduce you to my dad, Tom, so he can run you through some things. We need as many people as we can get."

"Uh, what's a Skit...Skit..." I tried to pronounce the odd word Hal just used. He sensed my confusion and explained.

"A Skitter, you mean? Oh, that's just what we call the aliens over here at the Second Mass."  
"Oh. That makes sense." I blushed. Good job, Adriana. First time seeing a cute guy in months and you already look like an idiot.

Afterward, Hal started ordering people to patrol and for someone to look for his dad. I looked around the camp. There were lots of tents, and lots of people around. It looked like a little town, as close to normal so I've gotten since the start of all of this. It was a start, at least.

"Dad, come here!" Hal called out to a tall man with a beard. The man walked over with a welcoming but cautious smile.

"Well, what do we have here? I'm Tom, and welcome to our camp. If you don't mind me asking, who are you guys?"

"This is Manuel, or Manny, and his daughter Adriana. They were on their way to Charleston when the Skitters I just shot down heard Ben scream and headed this way. They were trying to find any piece of civilization left and followed them here," Hal introduced us. Tom smiled some more as I tried to figure him out.

"Well it's good to meet you guys, but listen to me. The Skitters know our location now, and we don't know how long we have until more come back now. Manny, I'll cut right to the chase and introduce you to our men and our Leader, Captain Weaver. You need to get used to how we do patrols and such now, we'll need every man we've got," Tom instructed my dad. "Adriana, I'll have Hal introduce you to my other son, Ben. He won't be going on patrol any time soon; he's been having nightmares a lot lately, after we lost his good friend Jimmy two days ago…," Tom whispered the last part. "We buried him in a playground about ten to twenty miles back. He was allowed to sleep in today and had a nightmare, and he screamed the most bloodcurdling scream. The Skitters must have heard a muffled noise since you guys came from the main road."

"Yeah, we were about a mile or mile and a half or so out," my dad told Tom. Tom nodded understandingly.

"So that was the grave I saw in the playground…," I whispered to myself, making a mental note to give Ben my condolences.

"Well let's get to it, then. I'm sorry, Adriana, I'll have to borrow your dad for a while," Tom informed me. I simply nodded, implying an "Okay." I gave my dad a hug and kiss on the cheek. I was scared. I didn't want my dad to leave me, but I'll have to get used to it now I guess. My dad was all I've got left, I've got to make the best of it.

"So let's go over here to the medical bus, see if Anne is checking Ben after his nightmare," Hal suggested.

"Okay, sounds good, I guess" I replied, uneasy. I don't know what I've gotten myself into... "So this Ben, your brother…is he okay? You know after…Jimmy, was it?"

"Yeah, and honestly, I don't think I really know. He's different now. He's just a whole other person. It's like he's become more aggressive now, crazy at some times, even. It didn't even start right when we got him back from the Skitters, this behavior of his is recent," Hal replied sadly.

I became bug-eyed with realization. "He was harnessed and you got him back and _survived_?" I asked in awe.

"Yup, we did," he confirmed as we approached a bus. "It was an interesting experience to say the least." I gulped. "Here we are, this the medical bus. It's mostly where Anne, our doctor, treats the severely wounded."

I nodded as I walked up the steps to the bus behind Hal, biting my lip. I hated being in situations where I had to be around new people. I saw a woman in her mid-to-late thirties. I assumed that was the doctor, Anne. Then, alongside her there was a young lady, maybe in her early twenties. Perhaps she was Anne's assistant. But it was the boy sitting (shirtless, might I add) on a stretcher in the center of the room who caught my eye. He has evidence of formerly being harnessed; I assumed he was Ben, Hal's brother.

"Hey man," Hal greeted his brother as Anne was whispering instructions to him. Ben turned around and he saw us standing in the front of the bus. He got off of the stretcher and put his shirt back on when he noticed me, his cheeks getting a little red. I laughed a little under my breath and Hal looked down at me questionably.

"Hey Hal," Ben replied, barely making eye contact with his brother. "Who's she?"

"I'm Adriana. My dad and I are new here. Your dad said you'd show me around," I told him, half-smiling and still biting my lip. I didn't know what to expect from this kid.

"Oh, well, I'm Ben. I guess I'll just show you around some. Anne is it okay if I leave?" Ben asked the doctor. She nodded with a smile and playfully shooed him away. I noticed that Hal had already got off the bus, probably to look for his dad, and I was now here alone with Ben.

Ben scratched the back of his head. "Well, let's go look around then," Ben muttered. As we headed off the bus and around camp as Ben explained the various tents and areas or the camp. He seemed really out of it. Any other person would have thought he was fine, but I wasn't just any other person.

"You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I see that you're not in the best of moods to do this, and it seems like you have a lot going on," I began. "Maybe we should just do this another time it's probably better this way anyways," Ben thought about my proposition.  
"After what happened to your friend, I honestly think it isn't the healthiest idea to pretend to be all welcoming and nice when you probably don't want anything to do with me anyways. We'll do this another time maybe. Or maybe I'll just look around myself or go find my dad. Whatever, bye." I tried to read Ben and find any emotion on his face. I found none as he stared back. I sighed and I turned my heel, looking at the ground, trying to figure out what I was going to do with myself... But one thing was for certain. As I walked farther and farther away from him, Ben continued staring at me.

**A/N: I'm a terrible, terrible author for not updating in nearly six months. Yes, you can shoot me :(**

**Anyways, I'm going back and revising all of my chapters, a new chapter to follow veeeery soon *hopefully*  
~Aly**


	2. Chapter 2

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally Babyy3**

**Summary: **The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my first FS story. *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Potentially AU.

Chapter 2

The rest of my day composed of meeting new people and trying not to be an awkward mess.

And sorta-kinda-really stalking Hal Mason.  
What? I didn't say anything.

By supper, I was still sitting in the mess hall alone. I met people yeah, but I didn't have any friends, really. So far, Anne, the doctor, and her assistant Lourdes were really nice. They even said I could potentially go help them out sometime! I've always wanted to major in medicine, but things changed…

I hadn't seen Ben since I left him in the middle of camp today. I heard whispers of him staying in his tent all day just staring at nothing. I felt bad for the guy, obviously. I almost even missed him. Was I too mean earlier? Was the semi-reality check too soon? Now I feel nauseous. Or maybe butterflies… Nah, I'm just nauseous because I feel bad for earlier today and I'm afraid karma might kick my dad and I out of this place. I think.

My dad and I were given a tent to share with another family. All I'd do is sleep there, so I didn't really care. The only thing that kept me nauseous was that it was next to Tom Mason's family's tent. Great.  
I don't even know what it is, but I feel weirdly drawn to Ben. He's cute and all, but…

Nah. I'm not even gonna go there.

After everyone else in my tent was asleep, I lay awake, staring at the wall like a loser. A million things were rushing through my head all of a sudden. I was tired though I'd want anything in the world more than to go to sleep. The nightmares would come; I'd wake everyone else in the entire camp up with my screaming. This past week is the first week since the invasion that I hadn't had any, but I felt them coming again tonight; I know the nightmares would come as soon as I closed my eyes. I couldn't bear sleeping.  
I lay awake for what seemed like hours, though I knew it was only an hour or two. Making sure everyone – especially my dad – was asleep; I ventured out of my tent, bringing my blanket with me. I kept a gun and my lucky necklace with me at all times in my backpack, so it's okay to go out in the middle of the night, right? I mean, I'm gonna stay in the camp at least. I had heard we were going to move the campsite tomorrow. I supposed that everyone was going to need as much sleep as they could get, meaning no one was going to dare get out of bed.  
As I made m way to the center of camp, I plopped down onto my knees, wrapping my blanket around me. What am I really doing here? That was a question I could never answer. Call me bi-polar.

That was when I heard the snap of a branch on the ground nearby. Someone – or some_thing_ – was advancing on me. Grabbing my gun and circling around, I tried to quietly observe my surroundings. Not a soul in sight. Not that my sight is very reliable, considering that it's pitch black outside.

I heard another snap of a twig, closer this time.  
"Who's there?" I whispered. "Get your ass out of the dark, I have a gun, and I will _not_ hesitate to shoot." I waited about ten seconds before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I twisted the arm back, put a gun to whoever's head it was, and pulled the silent sleepwalker into view. Who I found, however, wasn't a sleepwalker at all. _Great,_ just who I needed to see right now.

"_Ben?_" I asked, surprised. But not in a good way. "What the hell is wrong with you, I could've freaking killed you!"

"Shut _up_, Adriana, people are actually trying to _sleep_." Ben whispered back to me. The nerve of him. I rolled my eyes.  
"Why'd you sneak up on me? That was seriously not cool. You had me thinking a Skitter was about to freaking kill me!" I answered back.  
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," he replied as I rolled my eyes again. "I can't sleep, and I need time to think."

"Same…Except, I don't want to sleep."  
"Why not?"

"Reasons."  
"Fine, don't tell me. I just don't want to have to wake up everyone on Earth with my screaming. I mean, you obviously heard me this morning." Ben shifted uncomfortably. I didn't answer.  
"Why won't you talk to me?"  
"Why do you _insist_ on talking to me? Aren't you Mr. Depressing around here? I hear you barely even talk to your brother." I spat at him. I wasn't sure if I regretted saying that or not as I saw Ben's face fall in the darkness. There was a pause before Ben spoke again.  
"Because, like you said, I have no friends. I just thought that maybe things would be different with you. But you think I'm a freak like the rest of them, just like you're a part of the group of chicks obsessed with my brother. Well too bad, Maggie's soon filling that available girlfriend position." Ben got up and started walking away and I frowned. Jeez, drama queen, much?  
"Ben!" I called after him as quietly as I could. "Ben, wait, come on." Ben stopped walking and turned back at me, I could barely see his silhouette in the darkness.  
"Let's just…I don't even know, let's just talk about our problems and pretend we're each other's Oprah, okay? I just need to vent, I'm sorry for snapping at you," I whispered. Ben's face softened as he nodded.

"Do you know a place we could be alone without being interrupted?" I asked him, skipping around a little.

"Yeah, follow me," Ben said, mischievously smiling in the darkness. That, I think, was the first time I've ever seen him smile. And that is a smile I could definitely get used to.

Ben gently took hold of my arm and stealthily led us away from camp. I was nervous. Sneaking out of my camp in the post-apocalyptic world at 2 in the morning.

"We won't have much time," I started as we reached a clearing and sat in the middle of it together. "Someone mind figure out we're missing soon. Look, I know you don't know me that well, but I'm good at this kind of thing. Good at listening, you know? So tell me, what's on your mind? Vent. That's what we're doing tonight."

Ben hesitated before answering, "It's a lot of things, all coming at me at once. I was finishing ninth grade when the invasion happened. I had to go from almost-high-school-kid to soldier, which is a huge transition. A lot has happened in that time, too. My mom died, I was harnessed, I was _un_-harnessed, plus we have to fight a lot of freaking aliens, and have all this weight on our shoulders to keep the rest of the Second Mass safe. And we also have to move across the country with Skitters and Mechs everywhere trying to kill all of us…it's just too much for a fifteen year old kid. We're too young for all of this.

"And then, above all of that we're always losing people! And people are always getting hurt, too. You can have your closest friend with you one day and the next day he's gone. Just like Jimmy. And sometimes, it's your fault and people lie to you and they tell you it's not your fault when it is. Like when I accidentally shot my dad, or when I went out Skitter hunting with Jimmy and he never came back when it was my idea in the first place.

"There's just so much bullcrap in my head at all times, that it overwhelms my dreams now. In my dreams, it all comes at one time and it scares me. Sometimes I'll talk in my sleep, but today is the first time I've screamed. Now it's my fault that we have to leave again, and so soon. I was beginning to think we'd be able to stay here for at least a week. But now, we can't, because everything I've done wrong has come back to haunt me." Ben paused, running his fingers through his hair and putting his head between his knees.

'And I need to tell you something. What I need to tell you is something I've never told anyone before. I've always had the nightmares, but just recently they've gotten worse. And the reason I was so off when I met you was because I felt like the same thing that happened with Jimmy would happen to you when I first thought of the possibility of us being friends. We'd become best friends, then you die because of one of my stupid decisions, and then I'm left alone at fault again. I don't want death on my conscious," Ben finished, burying his head in his hands, forcing back tears.

I didn't know what do to so I hugged Ben tightly. "You can cry, Ben," I soothed him. Despite probably him not having a shower in months, he had a nice distinctive smell to him. It was musky and sweet, and it comforted me.

Holding him in the middle of this post-apocalyptic forest sprang an idea into my head. I un-wrapped my arms from around Ben, and I used my index finger to tilt his chin so that he was facing me and wiped the tears from under his eyes.  
"It'll be okay, Ben. I promise it's gonna be okay. And here, I'll make you another promise; you and I are going to make it through this together, through everything. And no matter what happens, aliens or not, we'renever, _ever_ going to be away from each other. I can be away from you physically, but I'm always with you in here," I pointed to his heart. "You've done something to me, a positive thing. I don't know what it is, Ben, but I'm drawn to you, everything about you. It's like I'm specifically here to help you get yourself, your old self, back. I'm going to help you hang on you your humanity, because it seems like you're losing it putting yourself down and allowing yourself to relieve your negative memories. Don't underestimate yourself, Ben."

Ben looked at me for a long while, his eyes that seemed to shift between blue and green showed hope, happiness, and slight uneasiness. But he simply responded with giving me another hug and a muffled "Thank you."

"We should probably head back, it's late, err, early," I whispered to him. I got up and offered him a hand, a hand he didn't let go of the whole way back to camp. I didn't look at it in any way other than a friendly gesture. We are officially friends now; we are going to do the things that little ten year old friends would do. This is how I'm going to try and hang onto the child part of me, that part seems to be barely there these days.

That was when we heard it. It was a growl we heard, almost. But when Ben and I heard it, we knew exactly what it was.

"A Skitter, Ben!" I exclaimed while reaching for the gun I had in my backpack. I saw Ben grab the gun he had on him as well as I reminded myself of the four steps of shooting as the Skitter advanced on us.

_Pull the safety_, I reminded myself as I heard the first click.

_Aim the gun_, I replayed my father's words in my head.

_Cock it, like this_, the gun clicked again.

_Pull the trigger, Adriana_, I let out a slow breath and pulled the trigger.

The Skitter dropped as it let out a bloodcurdling shriek. I smirked as Ben looked at me in amazement. I realized that whole thing happened in a matter of three seconds, barely after Ben even got to aim.

"How'd you learn to shoot like that?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"My dad taught me, plus, practice makes perfect," I winked. "Now let's get back to camp." Ben nodded and we headed back in the direction we came from. When my stomach started making that dying whale sound, I realized how long we've been away from camp. It was probably six o'clock in the morning, when we got back to camp. We've been out for hours. I'm starving.

"Damn it," I whispered to myself. My dad was going to kill me, if he even noticed that I've been gone with Ben all night.

As we approached the camp we saw a man giving a speech in the center of camp. The man seemed a bit older, with grayish hair and a sergeant-like attitude about him.

"That's Captain Dan Weaver, he's our leader," Ben informed me quietly as we tried to listen in on whatever he was saying.

"-and that's why we will be leaving to Charleston as soon as possible. Soldiers, you are to go and gather the supplies into our vehicles and start our engines. Wake up the women and tell them to gather the children safely, and," then the man turned to us. "You two, where have you been all night?" I gulped. I made out my dad's look of relief and disappointment all at once through the crowd. _Why me?_ I thought.  
"We couldn't sleep." Ben answered, looking down.  
"Yeah? I bet you _really _couldn't sleep at all with that little lady around," Weaver replied. I heard my dad clear his throat. "Anyways, just _stay out of trouble._"

"Now as for us moving out of camp this morning," Weaver was continuing. "Ben you need not fight unless we absolutely need you to, and Adriana…well, you're gonna be babysitting him," Captain Weaver told us, completely stern and serious throughout the whole statement. I laughed a little under my breath and earned a glare from Ben.

"Are you kidding me?! You need us! You need as many people out there to protect us in case we encounter Skitters or Mechs!" Ben protested. Captain Weaver sighed. I saw Tom about ten feet away from us and he gave us shrug that said, "There's nothing I can do."

"I know, son. But right now, we need your mind to rest as much as possible, in case we really need you. Plus, we both know you need it too. And we don't want Adriana fighting because number one, it puts her in immediate danger as a new part of this community, number two, we don't know how skilled she is with a gun considering she just got here and we haven't tested her skills, and number three, we need her to keep an eye on you in case something happens. I want you two on the medical bus with Anne and Lourdes. Understood?" Weaver ended the conversation at that, not bothering to hear what Ben's muffled and upset answer was. "Let's go, people!"

"I know how to shoot, ask my dad!" I protested. At that moment, I realized I didn't exactly know where my dad _was _anymore. I didn't see where he went after the speech Weaver made_._ I supposed I'd see him when we set up camp again later.

Captain Weaver gave me a look of finality, andI sighed. I was really sad that Ben was held back because of previous actions, which was probably feeding his thoughts of everything that went wrong being his fault, and I was sad that I couldn't be on patrol or do something productive.  
"Move! Move! Move!" I heard Weaver yell in the distance. "We need to get out of here, _now_!"

"It's not because it's your fault, you know," I told him. "It's just because they're trying to look out for you, Ben." I reached out to touch his shoulder, but he shrugged off my hand and stomped onto the bus. Oh lord, what have I got myself into with this boy?  
Trailing behind Ben, I asked, "Should we tell them about the Skitter we saw?" Ben looked back at m, but didn't turn around. He shrugged.

Sighing, I climbed onto the bus after him before we left and opened my backpack – which hasn't really left contact with my body since I left last night. I took out two cans of fruit and offered one to Ben. "Since we're going to be on the road today, we need to have breakfast. Eat something, please," I insisted. Ben sighed and took the can from me; I could tell he was hungry. After about an hour of silence, I yawned and spoke.

"So you've told me some of your story, now it's only fair if I told you mine," I suggested, easing the silence. Ben finally looked at me and nodded.

"Sure, I guess, tell me."

"So my dad and I are originally from South Florida – the suburbs surrounding Miami. We left my mom, brother, and sister home when my dad and I went on a trip to Boston for an early offer for college I had at a university there. I'm quite the bookworm," I laughed a little. "But that day was the day the attack came, and it came while we were in the air, so we were struck and had to crash land. There were only five survivors. We stuck around with each other and headed east, trying to find any hint at civilization, picking up weapons anywhere we could find them and we sharpened our senses.

"Eventually, the rest of us were either captured or killed. My father and I are the only survivors left of that crash now. Along the way we encountered a group that was heading to Charleston, and we were completely interested in going there. By that point we were in Nevada, and we decided to head out a couple hundred more miles to see if we find any other survivors.

"We didn't find anyone, and we started to head back to Massachusetts, which was where we hid in the playground you buried Jimmy in when we were running from Skitters. We took shelter in a nearby supermarket, woke up the next day and found the Skitters that heard you scream. We followed them, and ended up with the Second Mass," I finished, smiling a little. Finding the Second Mass was definitely the highlight of my story. But there was still something I forgot to add. "We don't really know if my siblings and mother are still alive. If they are, we'll probably never see them again, they're so far away."

I looked to my right to see Ben looking at me intently, but that look visibly softened to one of sympathy as his eyes turned a baby blue color. I smiled sadly at him, trying to push back the thought of my mother and younger siblings being killed in the invasion. But it was a happy thought, too. They'd be free of this hell in paradise. There was a long pause between us.

"It's a story, but it's not a grand, special one like yours. I've never been harnessed or anything," I said to end the silence between us. Yet, there was a pregnant pause again, until Ben finally spoke up.

"My story isn't grand at all, it totally sucks. We've all been through a lot. Particularly you and I, that's why we have each other, I think," Ben pondered. "We have each other to help each other and help us get through things now." I nodded understandingly.

"The funny part is that we're friends now and we don't know each other that well. We only know the new versions of each other post-invasion. We should probably play the question game!" I suggested excitedly. I saw Anne look at us through her back view mirror and smile to herself as she drove. She seems nice.

Ben chuckled at the idea. "I think it's good to have some time to act like a kid again and play games, so why not?"

I smiled mischievously. "What is your date of birth, may I ask?" I asked in a terrible fake-British accent.

"Well, July the thirteenth, I believe," Ben answered in the same accent. I laughed and looked out the window. It was still pretty bright out, probably nine in the morning. We have _lots_ of time to kill.

"Okay, you're turn to ask me," I told him.

"Okay, um…when's _your_ birthday?"

"December the eighth. What's your favorite color, kind sir?"

"I like blue and green, but mostly blue. Yours?"

"Same as you, favorite band?"

"Eh, Coldplay. What's your favorite letter of the alphabet?"

"Respectable answer, I like them, and what kind of question is that, Ben?!" I laughed.

"Just answer it, Adriana!" Ben joked.

"Fine, fine, I will. Um…I like the letter L because it looks the prettiest in cursive to me." I laughed at my own answer.

The two of us went on for hours. Asking things about our favorite music, favorite pastime, best and worst subjects in school, and so on. I liked learning the little details of Bens life, and I _loved_ being able to truly laugh again. Sure I laughed here and there at my dad's jokes, he was a funny guy, but Ben could be hilarious without realizing it.

By nightfall the laughing died down a bit. Lourdes had fallen asleep ages ago when we had asked Anne if she needed us to take over driving while she sleeps.

"No thanks, guys. I'll wake up Lourdes in a couple of hours. I don't want you two driving this thing until you're at least sixteen. Then we'll talk, promise," Anne winked at us both.

By eight in the evening, Ben and I had kept up small talk, and made up our own little ridiculous stories about the invasion. We were both starving, and we had only made about two pit stops along the way. Neither of us wanted to get out, eat, or do anything to interrupt the best conversations we'd had in ages. Well, unless we had to use the restroom. My ridiculous story involved rainbow-ninja-unicorns coming to save us all and restore peace and prosperity from Planet Cupcake, while also granting Earth with the awesomeness of unicorns. Ben's was about a virus turning some of us into alien-flesh eating zombies, so they ate all of them, but not us, so eventually both would cancel each other out and everything would be normal again. Neither story was truly realistic, but Ben's was by far more realistic than mine.

I shivered a little in my seat and wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep my body heat in. I guess I left my blanket in the clearing when we left last night. Hopefully my dad picked it up. Ben noticed my discomfort and took off his jacket and gave it to me.

"You don't have to give me your jacket, really. I'll live," I assured him, trying to give it back.

"I insist, please take it. And I'm gonna try and get some sleep, too, so goodnight, Adriana. It was really great talking to you today," Ben said sleepily, turning to his side so that his back was to me as he tried to sleep.

I poked him after about two minutes, still feeling bad about that jacket. Ben turned his head around.

"Maybe…Maybe we could share the jacket. You know, sleep really close so neither of us gets cold," I suggested. Ben nodded while shrugging and moved closer to me so I could drape the jacket over both of us. We soon learned we'd both be more comfortable if Ben wrapped his arms around me and I snuggled my head into the crook of his neck. I blush a little while doing so, and felt like I was back at school as a normal teenager, going crazy over any sort of contact with a boy.

"I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable with any of this, I just would feel bad if you got cold when you slept. Plus, sleeping near someone helps with my nightmares…," I told him. That was something no one knew except for my dad. I had nightmares, a lot. Some about being chased by Skitters and running until I collapsed and they harnessed me, others about my family being killed by Mechs and Skitters, it was all so scary. Sometimes even when I'm with my dad I get them, but when there's no one with me I'll get them nonstop.

"You get nightmares, too?" Ben asked, whispering into my hair.

"Yes, I get them every night unless there's someone with me."

"Oh. I'll stay with you every night if you want me to." My heart skipped a beat. He would do that for me? He barely knew me, why would he do such a thing for me? Whatever, he's just being nice.

"No, you don't have to, you barely know me, it's alright, Ben."

"No, it isn't alright. We don't need more people ending up like me," he whispered to me.

"Well, you can't really when we set up camp, I'll have a tent set up with my dad, and there's no way you'd be able to sleep anywhere near me with him around. Even in this post-apocalyptic world he's super over-protective of me when it comes to boys, trust me. When he finds out we spent the whole day together after last night he'll flip," I said, rolling my eyes at the thought of him in that situation.

"Any time we're alone together like this I will, just to keep the nightmares away. I'll protect you. That's what friends are for," Ben assured me. I smiled and I felt Ben smile into my hair, too.

"So it's settled then. But let's get some sleep, bro," I said, stopping the conversation and dozing off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

**Review :) **

**A/N: I'm a terrible, terrible author for not updating in nearly six months. Yes, you can shoot me :(**

**Anyways, I'm going back and revising all of my chapters, a new chapter to follow veeeery soon *hopefully*  
~Aly**


	3. Chapter 3

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally babyy3**

**Summary:** The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for thirteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my first FS story. *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Potentially AU.

Chapter 3

I woke up with my arms around Adriana. It was extremely awkward, to be honest, but it felt good. Maybe it was just because it was my first time with my arms around a girl in a way that wasn't a hug. Or maybe because I had just woken up from a nightmare-less sleep. Yeah, that's it. I didn't have any nightmares for once.  
The light was shining through the windows of the bus and I squinted and rubbed my eyes. I looked down to Adriana and saw that she was still sleeping. Her breathing was soft and I saw her mouth curve into a small smile before her face softened again.  
"Adriana? Are you awake?" I asked softly. She squirmed a bit, but didn't wake. I sighed and moved her delicate – and extremely curvy– form gently off of my lap, making sure not to wake her. I draped the jacket over her shoulders more and probably spent a little too much time staring at her. _Because you think she's pretty_, a voice told me. I scoffed silently at myself.

I made sure she was sound asleep and comfortable before tip-toeing off the bus and started looking for my dad. I made my way a tent, where they kept the sick and patients with minor injuries, to ask Dr. Glass where my dad was. I saw Hal and Lourdes getting a little cozy sitting in the middle of camp, holding supplies and laughing together. I smirked. Those two were meant for each other. At least someone found happiness. I walked into the tent to see Dr. Glass, my dad, Weaver, and someone I had not seen before, yet looked familiar, all speaking in the corner of the tent.  
"Dad," I greeted him nonchalantly. My dad whipped around and smiled at me, patting me on the shoulder.  
"Hey kid, sleep well?" I nodded. "Alright, that's good. By the way, this is Manny, Adriana's dad," The man my father gestured to looked very sternly at me. "I was just telling him about how you and Adriana got to know each other yesterday." _Honestly dad, are you __trying__ to get me murdered by her dad?_ I thought, rolling my eyes unnoticeably.

"That's Mr. Muñoz to you, son," Manny intervened. I shuddered a bit, but tried not to show it. "I hope you have nothing but good intentions with my daughter since you two will be spending a lot of time together." I gulped.  
"Yes sir. I intend to respect her how sh-she deserves – which is with the most respect possible – and t-t-take care of her, in a friendly way, o-of course ," I stuttered. Manny nodded, not giving off any sort of emotion. My dad cleared his throat and I mouthed "Thank you" to him when Manny wasn't looking.  
"So, we plan to make a supply trip sometime today. We lost most of our supplies escaping. We're mostly low on med supplies, Dr. Glass really needs them. It'd be best during daylight because we'd be able to navigate better, but might do us in since we'd be visible in the broad daylight," Weaver continues their previous conversation, not minding my listening in.  
"Well, we'll need all the help we can get, won't we then?" my dad asks. I became a little hopeful.  
Weaver sighed. "I don't like where this is going but I understand. Ben, go get Adriana. You two are coming with us. Meet us at the edge of camp after you guys have a quick target practice session with Hal," he instructed me. I nodded and made my way outside. _Yes!_ I thought. But then I thought about it again. What if I mess up? What if I freeze in the presence of a Skitter, thinking about what happened to Jimmy? What if the _same_ thing happens to Adriana? I'd die if any of that happened. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'd just give myself to the Skitters because I wouldn't want to remember any of it.  
I sighed. I didn't want the beast of me return. The menacing side of me had taken over, and I don't want it to come out again. I've been acting differently lately since Jimmy's death. But I feel like I'm sort of slowly getting back to the old me. Or, as close as you can get, at least. Maybe it's because of Adriana. Nah, not just her entirely, I'm just fooling myself. It's most likely not entirely because of her. Guys tend to act differently around girls, or maybe it's just me. _It's completely because she makes you feel like you again, because you wanna impress her, stop lying to yourself_. Damn that voice in my head. That's not true…

I slowly walked onto the med bus; no patients in there today, thankfully. I walked in to see a fully awake Adriana, humming to herself as she cleaned up the bus. I smiled. We were living in the post-apocalyptic world and Adriana was _cleaning_. I chuckled to myself and her head shot up, getting a little red in the cheeks. Wow. I actually laughed.  
"Oh, um, hey, Ben. I didn't see you there. I was just, uh, cleaning up a little. I just thought it'd be nice to keep up the humanity of cleaning. Ha ha…" Adriana seemed a bit embarrassed. "So what brings you here today on this fine morning, Ben?"

"Well, I came to bid you good morning _and_ to let you know we have target practice together today," I stated with a slight smirk.  
Adriana simply smirked back and grabbed her gun. "Well, then what are we waiting for?" she asked, walking past me.  
I walked behind Adriana and Hal started running toward us.  
"Hey Ben, Adriana," he greeted. I nodded in response, not making any eye contact

"Hi Hal!" Adriana said back with her charming smile, smiling a little too long at Hal for my liking. Why was she looking at him like that? _Jealous much? _The voice in my head spoke to me yet again. Whatever, I wasn't jealous. Especially of _Hal_. Anyways, what have I got to be jealous about? I don't even like her.  
"So I here you guys are going out for the next mission with us. Dad wanted me to ask if you're sure about coming with us. I mean, we're all worried about you, Ben. Maybe dad's just making sure…," Hal trailed off. Adriana continued smiling at him and nodded understandingly. Hal smiled back. Wait, wait, rewind. Wasn't he into Lourdes – or was it Maggie? I don't even know anymore – last time I checked?  
"Yup, whatever," I replied. "So are you gonna leave us alone, or just keep making us listen to you until our ears fall off?" Hal's smile faded.  
"Alright, alright. No need for the attitude, bro," Hal surrendered, holding his arms up in defeat as he walked in the opposite direction. He probably went to go say bye to Lourdes, or Maggie, before he leaves with us.  
I rolled my eyes and just kept walking to the edge of camp where Weaver, dad, and the rest of the group coming with us to town.

"What the hell was that back there with Hal?" Adriana demanded, catching up to me.  
"What do you mean?" I asked, not really paying much attention to the situation.  
"You may as well have said 'F U' to Hal. I mean, honestly, Ben. That was _seriously _uncalled for. What's been up with you today?" Adriana looked up at me with her big brown doe eyes. My face softened a bit, but went back to the way it was.  
"Nothing has, Adriana. Don't act like you know how I am, or everything that's ever happened to me. Don't act like you know how it feels, or that I should be so happy with ice cream and rainbows with Hal. He only seems like this super special amazing person to girls. I don't get what's so special about him…" I yelled back at her and instantly regretted it. Adriana looked a little taken aback, but remained completely calm.  
"You're _jealous_ of Hal?" She asked with her mouth wide open. Was that all she really picked out from that conversation? Anything concerning Hal? Of course she likes him. Then Adriana continued speaking. "Never mind that. Look, I get it, I know I don't know you that well, but that's why we became friends, right? To learn more about each other. Now I _know_ you're sort of secluded and you don't talk to your brother much. And when you _do_ talk to him, you usually reply to him with one word. I also _know_ that's not who you _really_ are. It's how you cope with everything. You act like this because of the harness, the hate, the anger, and everything else all mashed together. And don't lie to me Ben, I _know_ something is up. Something no one knows. You can trust me." She finished, jogging the rest of the way without me.  
I can't tell her about the red-eyed Skitter, could I? Or my spikes glowing? No, I can't, she'll get scared of me, or tell people. I need to look out for myself. I can't trust anyone. Nowadays, I'm not safe anywhere either. Sure, I've got soldiers and guns to protect me. But what no one really knows is that I still feel it. The Skitters, I feel them, and I feel one specifically. The one who controlled me. No one can find out.  
I just hopped into the back of the truck Adriana was in, facing her, yet not making eye contact.  
"Let's just go to target practice," I dismissed her.

After Adriana kicked my butt in target practice – not to mention her going on about the endless praise from Hal and the never-ending rubbing defeat in my face to follow – we were on our way to the edge of camp to meet the group.

We were heading to the only hospital in the area, hoping to get some supplies for Dr. Glass. And when we arrived, I made my way out of the truck, blocking out any emotion, and any other sound but nature. I have to try and listen for any suspicious activity; keep the group safe, for now.  
Hal, Maggie, my dad, and his Berserkers joined us as well. The rest of them went inside while Adriana and I were to stay put outside and guard. But the weird thing was that Maggie stayed with us.  
"Hi, you're Maggie, right? I've heard a lot of people talk about you and your badassery. I'm Adriana," Adriana introduced herself to Maggie. Maggie smiled.  
"Well I've heard quite a bit about you, too, missy. You and Ben over here," Maggie smirked at me before continuing. "I decided to stay out here. I don't like hospitals much." I've heard that Maggie used to have cancer, but didn't want to mention it. There's a lot of gossip around camp.  
"Why?" Adriana asked in a higher voice than usual. Sort of a childish voice. She still seemed like a child in a lot of ways, although in more ways she shows that she's grown up too fast. She looks like a little kid the way her features soften and her voice gets a little higher when she's worried, or nervous, or sad. But sometimes she can be hard as a soldier, sometimes when she raises an eyebrow at you and her curly locks flow behind her in the wind, or when she holds her gun painstakingly. That's when _she_ has this sort of badassery about her. I love that.  
"I used to spend a lot of time in hospitals. I don't like to talk about it much, but I had cancer. Brain tumors. I got operated on three times; I actually have holes in my skull. It wasn't exactly fun," Maggie admitted. I've never really seen her like that. She's usually really guarded inside, doesn't really talk about her past.  
"Oh. I'm sorry." Adriana looked down into her hands as she sat down next to Maggie on the steps of the hospital. "On the bright side, we probably won't have to stay long." I cleared my throat.  
"Anyways, I'm sure they're almost done by now-," I began but was interrupted.  
"You ok?" Hal came up from behind Maggie and Adriana.  
"Mhm." Maggie replied.  
"We'll be packing up some stuff and gonna bed down for a while; there are real beds in there, clean sheets. Why don't you guys come inside?"  
"Nah. Not in a hospital." Maggie whispered.  
"Sure!" Adriana accepted, happily skipping away into the hospital.  
"Alright, I'll leave you two alone then," I muttered, following her inside.  
"Hey, wait up!" I called after Adriana. She looked back at me, then in front of her again, rolling her eyes in the process. "Adriana? What's wrong?" She kept walking. Huh, was I that much of an ass to her earlier?

"Adriana, really, if you're still mad about this morning, I'm sorry. Really, I am. I might act that way with most people but I'm not acting like that with you, ever again. I can't lose any more friends. I'm so sorry." She sighed and slowly turned around.  
"Then why didn't you say something? I still think there's something up with you. And I have reason to believe it's Skitter-related," Adriana whispered so only I could hear, crossing her arms at me.  
"Because I _know_ you'd say I told you so if I admitted that you were right," I said, engulfing her into a hug.

**Review :) When I first wrote this chapter I wasn't crazy about the changing POVs. I'm sticking with Adriana! Whoop a loop, bye.**

**A/N: I'm a terrible, terrible author for not updating in nearly six months. Yes, you can shoot me :(**

**Anyways, I'm going back and revising all of my chapters, a new chapter to follow veeeery soon *hopefully*  
~Aly**


	4. Chapter 4

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally Babyy3**

**Summary: **The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my first story, be nice! :p *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Kinda AU for now, will be completely/mostly AU by the middle/end of the story.

Chapter 4

Nothing was ever normal these days. Not the fact that Weaver's daughter actually wanted to leave him. Most of the group went back with supplies, and we decided to stand ground here. Weaver came back with the story of his daughter and we didn't have much to say. It was devastating. Nor that Ben had been becoming more distant lately. We'd been in the hospital for weeks and it seemed that Ben had been disappearing randomly during that time. I've also been getting closer to Lourdes and Maggie lately.

I'm not sure where I stand with the middle Mason child, but I hope it was somewhere good. Ben was truly…confusing, to say the least. To be honest, he's probably the only attractive guy my age on the face of the earth, well, besides his brother. My little crush on Hal had been a heat of the moment thing, really. No feelings there. It's especially awkward because he's sort of become a big brother to me. Maybe there _was_ something more with Ben and I. Yeah, right. I'm kidding myself.

Everything was happening so fast. Too fast for my liking, that is. Ben had been nowhere to be found all day yesterday. After he hugged me that first day we were here he just went about his day normally, excluding me, then decided to run off. Just this afternoon he decided to scare the hell out of me.

_"Hey Lourdes, where's Ben?" I asked the former med student after I woke up. She shrugged her shoulders.  
"I'm not sure; I don't think anyone has, really. I heard Tom talking to Dr. Glass this morning asking the same thing," she replied. That's weird, where would he have run off to?  
"So…where's __Hal__ then, Lourdes?" I asked, teasing her. It was obvious that she liked Hal. I didn't mind. I mean, he was hot and all, just not my type._

_ Lourdes frowned. "He's with his good ol' partner, Maggie," Lourdes muttered, still pouting._

_ "Ooooh. Wow. That must stink. I know how you feel," I sympathized. "I could help if you want. Maybe talk to Maggie? Just so I can see if she has any feelings for him or anything. Because the Lord knows, you may have Jamil and he may have Maggie, but damn, you two are cute." Lourdes giggled, turning her frown upside down. I smiled back at her._

_ "I'm serious, Lourdes. I'll pray a hundred Hail Mary's in English __and__ Spanish if I get to see people that belong together finally be together…I hope that someone helps me like that one day. You know, true love. I believe anything is possible, even in the worst of situations," I was sort of talking to myself in a way with that last true love bit…I mean, I'm only fourteen, but fourteen-year-old girls have their fantasies…_

_Love__. It was the word that could make or break a person. You either get ripped from the people you love, or get betrayed by them. Or you simply lose them mentally. Sometimes, you're the one who gets lost. I've always wanted to feel love. Just for a little while. Because I know it never lasts._

_ I'm not gonna lie and say that I hope that it does last, that my love with someone else could really last forever, but I know it'd be hard._

_ "It'll happen, I'm sure of it. Plus, I'm glad there's __someone__ here who's kept faith alive besides me." Lourdes chuckles to herself. "Do you have a rosary?" She asked.  
"No, mine I lost in the midst of all of this madness. I really miss it."  
"I'm sure we'll find you another one," Lourdes said sweetly. "In the meantime, do you want to help Dr. Glass and I tend to our patients?"_

_ "Sure!" I exclaimed, following Lourdes into a room where Dr. Glass was treating a woman with the flu.  
"An apprentice? That'd be fun," Dr. Glass said, smiling down at me.  
"Hopefully. You know, if you'll let me learn," I replied hopefully.  
"Of course, you don't even need to ask! Do you have any experience with medicine?"  
"Well, my mom was a pharmacist, and I wanted to go into med school. I also know pretty basic biology, if that helps." Dr. Glass smiled.  
"I guess that's just enough to get you started helping me with this patient. Grab me that bottle of Acetaminophen," Dr. Glass instructed me. I did so and she continued speaking. Now, Adriana, I think you can handle a flu patient as you're familiar with treating one, yes?" I nodded. "Good. We have another one that just came in, you'll handle it tomorrow, and we've got this one. I think you should go grab some breakfast, okay?"  
"Alright," I said enthusiastically, heading to the mess hall.  
"Mmmph!" I tried to scream as someone put a hand over my mouth and pulled me into an empty room. The hand left my mouth and I turned around, __so__ freaking ready to shoot someone. Who I came face-to-face with almost made me laugh.  
"Ben?"_

"…So you mean to tell my there's a Skitter _rebellion_?" I asked Ben. He'd been filling me in on things that have been going on with him and his connection with the Skitters.  
"Yup, some have been resisting the harness and have been trying to rebel. I want to help them," Ben confirmed. Was he fucking crazy? He must be if he thinks he'll win against the Skitters.  
"Ben are you _nuts_? You're gonna get yourself killed!" I protested. Ben sighed before speaking again.  
"Fine then, I guess you're like everyone else who decides to call me crazy. Whatever, you're just like the rest of them. I'll just do it alone then."

"No, Ben that's not what I meant I-"  
"What do you mean then?!" he yelled at me.  
"Ben calm down and listen to me!" I yelled back. Ben's face softened as he buried his face in his hands.  
"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I acted that way with you again." I nodded. He broke his promise already. What would he do with even more important promises?  
"I meant that I'm just worried about you. I need you to be sure you're making the right decision, okay?" I told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Well that shoulder is not at all bony.  
"I'm positive, please believe me." He said, taking his face out of his hands and giving me a look of pure sincerity. Aw…that look is so cute…WAIT. REWIND. _Adriana, you do not like Ben Mason. You can't. That'd be just awkward. Okay. I don't like him…I don't like him…I don't like him…_, I told myself.  
"Okay…I believe you," I told him, and a pregnant pause followed. "So…what do we do?" Ben's face lit up.

"You want to help me?"  
"Uh, of course. Honestly, what else do I have to do but help my razorback," I joked.

"Who said I needed your help, _nerd_," Ben joked back. We both laughed. Then Ben became serious. "Alright then, it's settled. But you can't tell anyone, it's bad enough half of the 2nd Mass doesn't trust me. And Adriana…they called me this morning…there was a whole battle with the Skitters. We have to go back, we need to help him!"  
"Help who?" I asked. Just then, none other than Tom Mason entered the room.  
"Ben, where have you been?! Oh, and Adriana, you're dad is looking for you."  
"Dad, I'll explain later, but you have to get a group together and come with me. I'm sure you know about the explosion this morning?"  
"Yes, but what's this about, Ben?"  
"The Skitters are fighting each other, dad. I saw it this morning, I was there and-" I cut Ben off.  
"This conversation is clearly not for my ears so I'm just gonna go," I dismissed myself, heading out of the room and into the mess hall. By now it was lunch time and I still haven't eaten. I noticed my father sitting at a table with a few of the buddies he's made here.  
I sat down next to him at his table after his friends had left.  
"Hey, daddy," I greeted him with a hug and kiss.  
"Hey, Baby Doll, how are you lately? I don't see you as much," my dad greeted me. "Do you like it here?"  
"Actually, I love it here. The people are amazing, there's always something to do, or someone to talk to. Tomorrow, I'm gonna start helping Dr. Glass and Lourdes tend to patients, you know I've always wanted to major in medicine…Plus, Ben and I have been making a pretty good team lately. He's become a really good friend of mine." My father's expression went from happy to stern as soon as I mentioned his name.  
"I don't think I like that Ben boy. He's too dangerous, having been with the aliens and all. I don't think he'll have a positive influence on you, given what I've heard," my dad told me. How dare he? How dare he try and talk about Ben like that? Ben is a good person, one of the best. And what makes him think he can choose my friends?  
"Dad, Ben is a good person. And just because he was harnessed doesn't mean he's a bad person. If I was harnessed once would you act the same way towards me? Ben is my friend, and I expect you to be kind toward him. Honestly dad, I'm a teenage girl. I need friends!" I ranted.  
"I understand that. But Ben is also a teenage boy, and he '_needs_' something else. You're being unreasonable, sweetheart," my dad insisted.  
"No, dad! I want to be Ben's friend. I don't care what you think of him. He may seem weak to you, just a scrawny, except he's hardly scrawny, little teenage boy who let himself get abducted by aliens. And you know what I say to that? The fact that he got away from them alive proves he's one of the strongest people I know. Now can we _please_ change the subject?"  
My dad cleared his throat. I hated fighting with him. He was the only family I had left, you know? I have to value him over everyone because if I lose him I'm on my own, and that'll be hard. I love him, I really do. But sometimes, he's so unreasonable. That's what I missed about my mom most, probably. She always knocked some reason into him. But now she's gone. Like the rest of the 90% of the planet that got murdered by the aliens.  
"Maybe another time, Baby Doll. I have to go speak with Weaver." And with that, my dad got up from the table and walked away. I sighed. I guess I was stuck with eating lunch by myself. Or at least that's what I thought until Maggie sat down across from me.  
"Hey kid, how's life treating ya?"  
I sighed yet again. "It's pretty confusing, to be honest. Everything about it," I admitted.

"Is this about Ben?" she asked, smirking at me as she put another spoonful of soup in her mouth.  
"Sort of, you could say 'yes and no', really." I guess Maggie's playing this afternoon.  
"Hm. So what's the deal with you two anyway?"  
"Not sure, to be honest. We've become really good friends and-"  
"Oh I'm sure you've become _reeeally_ good friends," Maggie interrupted me.  
"It's not like that, we're just friends…and, who has time for a relationship in the post apocalyptic world, anyways?" I answered. And that was when we heard it.  
"Weaver, you're never gonna believe this…" that was all I heard Tom Mason say before they had an all-out argument. "Dan, I believe him, and if we have any shot of defeating those Skitters we need to go, _now_." I saw Ben jog up behind his dad and he looked at me for half a second before turning his attention to the argument.  
"You need to trust me on this," Ben intercepted. "Please trust me, just this once."  
Weaver paused for a long while. "Fine. But just this once," Weaver gave in before screaming orders to his soldiers.  
"That's my cue, stay safe, alright?" Maggie bid me farewell. I waved to her as she ran across the mess hall to Hal, Tom, Weaver, and the rest of the soldiers while listening to battle strategy. I couldn't hear anything they were saying, which stunk. The Lord knows I'm nosy.  
My dad ran over to me before leaving with the group. "Baby girl, you need to stay here. I'm going a little farther than usual this time. You need to say and stay safe. Keep the group safe. I don't know when I'll be home, sweetheart. I don't know when, it might be a while. Just know that I love you with all my heart, alright?" I nodded, not sure what emotions to feel at the moment. I was indifferent in a way.

"Okay, daddy. Just come home, okay?" I wanted to make him promise.  
"I promise I'll come home." He told me, kissing me head and bidding me goodbye. Right after walked over Ben awkwardly toward me.  
"We're going to save him, the Skitter who controlled me when I was harnessed. He can't die, he just can't. If he dies, our hope of surviving is minuscule. Another one of my friends is hurt, too. His name's Rick but there's no time for explanation. I need you to make sure you stay safe tonight. Okay?" I nodded. "I can't lose anyone else. And I need you to promise me that whatever comes out of this you'll believe me." I nodded again.  
"I promise, Ben. Just...don't go die either, okay? I need my friends in one piece, although I could patch 'em up if needed…,"I joked. "But please don't come back with me needing to patch you up, when I said that I was joking." Ben chuckled.  
"I need to leave now, just remember what you promised me," he finished, hugging me goodbye and kissing my head before walking away and out of the Mess Hall.  
His arms felt so unusually welcoming…they felt safe. And did he kiss me? Oh Lord, I hope dad didn't see. But even if he did, I wouldn't mind. I was in pure bliss for two seconds…  
_What the hell?!_ What am I thinking? Ben is just a friend. The hug was just to comfort me, and the kiss on the head was just to seal our promises. Right?  
God, what did I get myself into?

**A/N: I'm a terrible, terrible author for not updating in nearly six months. Yes, you can shoot me :(**

**Anyways, I'm going back and revising all of my chapters, a new chapter to follow veeeery soon *hopefully*  
~Aly**


	5. Chapter 5

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally Babyy3**

**Summary: **The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my FS first story, be nice! :p *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Kinda AU for now, will be completely/mostly AU by the middle/end of the story.

Chapter 5

I haven't seen Ben since I was told the news of his departure. Well. No one has. But that was to be expected. If Ben wanted to stay hidden, I didn't doubt that he could for as long as he wanted.

He broke his promise. Again.

But I could deal, I suppose. We were friends for a short time; I could surely learn how to live without him. _Lie._ That's what I've been telling everyone.

What more could I have asked for? I have everything here in Charleston. Well, more so something I haven't had in a long time. Stability. So I lived on. I continued to help Dr. Glass and Lourdes every day, while always learning something new (she's pregnant; it's a secret, but I cannot see how anyone could miss her pregnancy glow). My dad came around less and less, I distanced myself from anyone with the surname Mason, and I survived. I did not live.

I felt like I was missing the push to go on actually living. Like there was nothing for me now but syringes and morphine. All I really lived for was the short-lived happiness of saving someone else's life.

Parts of me still wished that they'd find Ben and bring him back to me. I'd patch him up myself. I'll laugh and call him a clumsy Razorback and we'd laugh. And everything would be okay for that moment. But nothing was okay anymore. My mind was always racing, I was always paranoid. We had reached the presumably safest place in the country, and I felt like I was in the middle of a group of Skitters – and not the nice kind. Err, well, as nice as Skitters can get.

Usually, I'm lost in my own thoughts, humming my life away. _I wonder what dying's like_, I thought on one of my more depressed days. I lay in the gutter of my own mind until someone reminds me that I'm human, and I need to actually eat. Had I lost weight? I dismissed the thought, huffing. Why would it matter anyways? I'm not dying or anything.

Once I dreamt that we were together in the clearing where we first met, talking about something stupid about how we'd kill for some of that gross school lunch right then. Ben's eyes sparkled and we ran freely. We took risks. We fought Skitters, we ran from them, and we ticked them off until we nearly died. Then we laughed, because we were reckless. And it was an absolutely fabulous feeling.

Other nights I dreamt of my family. My _entire_ family. All together, sharing stories of our days and eating dinner at the table. Before this whole mess started. Before they all died.

But that's all in the past now, right?

Right.

I was thinking all of this while I was treating a patient with a really bad cough, still humming to myself.

"Adriana!" I jumped, snapping out of my trance. "Hmm?" I offered, frowning and not looking up to meet the person's eyes. The voice was familiar, but everyone's was these days. I couldn't put my finger on it. It was Ha…_his_ brother. What would he want from me?

I then turned to my patient, trying to ignore the sound of his voice. "John, you can go, but make sure to stay on your medication. Two tablets every six hours, okay?" I said through a fake smile. My patient thanked me and left. I turned around and examined myself. I look as if I hadn't slept in days (which I haven't). My hair was a tasseled mess atop my head. When had I last washed and tamed my curls? When was the last time I had _bathed_? The answers made me shudder, and I hadn't noticed that Hal was still standing a yard away from me.

"He's not coming back, Adriana. And if he does, I'm not sure he'll stay." Hal said. I shrugged. What difference would that make? After a while. Hal sighed and walked away. I barely even noticed. I started taking inventory of the medications and resume humming to myself. The camp was unusually quiet. _Where is everyone? _I thought. I did a 360 and saw no one. I'm probably just paranoid.

Then I heard the alarms.

**"All members of the Second Mass report to commentary immediately"**

As soon as I could say, "What's going on?" I was being grabbed (quite unnecessarily forcefully) by two army men and dragged down to commentary.

"You don't have to grab me so hard you assholes!" I yelled as we were making our way down stairs. They ignored me of course and dropped me next to Dr. Glass and Matt. I started panicking internally. What are they going to do with us? What's happening? I heard the screams around me, I heard Dr. Glass yelling something smart to every douche army man she could, but I didn't process any of it. I just kept thinking, "_Ben, where are you?"_

I started shaking violently, and my head started pounding. "Tell me what you're going to do with us!" I shouted at Arthur Manchester. I looked around at the people who once protected me, whom I looked up to. They seemed as helpless as I felt.

So we sat there. For god knows how long until the alarms sounded again. This time I was paying attention. I heard the army men yelling "Security breech! Clear the way! Move! Move!" and get into formation. Skitters came rushing into the room and the 2nd Mass gasped. I was struggling to get a better view of what was happening when my heart seemed to stop for a second.

"Stop! We're not here to hurt anyone." I choked back a cry. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, and I could barely breathe. It's him. It's _Ben_. He's here. A bead of sweat ran down my forehead and my knees became weak.

I saw the Mason boys run up and hug him, and Ben stood behind Tom and Dr. Glass now. Right in front of where I stood. The men lowered their weapons and Ben looked back and locked eyes with me, though I could barely see him through my glassy eyes. I broke my brief glance towards him and looked down. Then he left again to Clemmons' office.

Dr. Glass took one look at me and understood. She embraced me and I finally cried. Letting it all out at last. Why did he do this to me? Why did he leave?

I collected myself and sighed, sitting myself down on one of the tables. Twenty minutes later I saw some of the 2nd Mass walking towards me with grim looks on their faces. I caught my dad's eye and I looked down. He stopped me as he was about to walk past me.

"Dad, you look as if you just saw a ghost. What's wrong?" He asked me worriedly. I managed a weak smile.

"It's nothing," I weakly assured him and continued walking back to my housing compound. I'll help Dr. Glass and Lourdes tomorrow… Maybe I can actually sleep tonight…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke to the sound of shuffling near the camp. Huh? It's pitch black outside, who would be out at this time? I grabbed my backpack and tip-toed out of my bed and followed the shuffling noise, careful not to wake my dad. I kept following behind the noise until I could make out someone's black outline in the dark. I walked behind stealthily, keeping my distance, but not so much to where I would lose whoever it was who's gone bump in the night. Then the moonlight hit the person's face.

Clemons?

What is he doing out at this hour, and with a _gun_? He looks absolutely _murderous_.

My breathing hitched, and I struggled to keep myself concealed when my shuddering could give me away at any moment.

We walked for what seemed like hours before we reached what seemed to be another camp. But not just any camp, a camp crawling with Skitters and harnessed kids! Was he on a freaking suicide mission?!

I witnessed Clemons take off into a tree, and I tried to stay far away from him so he wouldn't catch me spying. He watched the makeshift camp for what seemed like a half an hour before jumping down and planting something outside of the little huts where the Skitters/kids slept. A minute later, a great _BOOM! _erupted and all hell broke loose. There was fire, and Clemons started shooting. Kids and Skitters were running every which way, but there was one he missed. It's a guy! Maybe around my age, but he wasn't harnessed. That's curious. I watched as the boy took off into the forest and I hesitated before running after him, making sure Clemons didn't see me (which was unlikely, he was having _way_ too much fun going to town on that camp.

I ran until my legs cramped up then slowed into a jog. I listened intently to the sound of the boy's footsteps, but I heard none. I fell onto my knees, defeated. I'm _exhausted_, I'm hungry (have I even eaten in the last 24 hours? I don't remember), and I have _no_ idea where I am.

Then I passed out.

When I awoke I was moving. Whaa…?  
Wait a second. Someone's _carrying_ me. What the hell? So I did what I do best and kicked whoever it was where the sun doesn't shine. They sure let go of me after that.  
"OW!" The mystery person groaned. I couldn't see their face, they had their head down. "What the hell, Adri?" Adri? So this person knows me? The voice was familiar, but…  
Then realization hit me. I gulped.  
"Ben?"

**A/N: Chapters 5 and 6 revised for the season premiere.**

**Much love!  
~A**


	6. Chapter 6

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally babyy3**

**Summary:** The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my first FS story. *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Potentially AU.

Chapter 6

"Ben?" I croaked, still half asleep. I stumbled a little and almost fell but he caught me. "You selfish bastard where have you been? I…I…" I stumbled again, and couldn't really open my eyes. I was too weak to even hit him, dammit.

"Adri, listen to me, I can explain-," he started.

"I don't want to listen to you! Don't touch me!" I yelled back, and then quieted, hoping that no Skitters might have heard us. I whispered afterward. "You left."

That's all I had to really say. It was something I still couldn't quite wrap my head around. All I really felt was the numbness, then pain, then anger and resentment. But now, seeing him, really looking at him in the eye and saying it, I've finally admitted it to myself…and then I broke inside again.

"I mean, I felt it coming. You had been so distant lately. You came around less and less, but you were still my best friend, and I still worried about you. And then one day I asked around for you and no one knew where you went. I was frantic, I looked everywhere. God, even my _dad_ helped me look for you and he can't stand you! I wouldn't get out of bed (or well, the back of the med bus) for two weeks. Then I cried. I cried so much my head hurt. I thought you were dead. I thought the rebellion back fired at you. Then one day, your dear ol' dad couldn't stand to see me like that and he _told me_.

"Your dad told me that you left, just like that. No worries, no goodbyes. You didn't even tell me. So then I was so mad. You didn't even tell me. You didn't tell anyone, you thought this lifestyle was best for you, so you left to do your own thing. You left everyone, your dad, your brothers, everyone. And you left _me._"

I was in tears at that point, couldn't take it anymore. But I was also absolutely _livid_. My exhaustion and malnutrition didn't even faze me. I saw Ben through glassy eyes and I cried. God, I'm such a baby. I shook and hiccupped and let myself just look like a horrible mess. I wiped my eyes and spoke again, still shaking.

"But do you wanna know who _was_ there for me the last few weeks and didn't leave me, no matter how many times I pushed him away?" I looked at Ben intently. His face was pouted and he was speechless. Then I said, "Hal." before stomping off.

"Adriana, wait! You don't even know how to get back to Charleston from here!" Ben's voice cracked when he spoke, like he was holding back tears. I didn't even turn around before letting out a muffled, "I'll find a way."

I heard Ben catching up to me and I sighed as I turned around to look back at him. "Ben, _what do you want_?" I spat at him, my eyes showing the last bit of anger (and hurt) that my lips didn't portray. Ben stopped abruptly in front of me, taken aback. The same hurt I felt burned in his eyes now. I fought back a smirk.

"I want to talk to you! I want to tell you how sorry I am and how much I've missed you and how much I absolutely _hate_ that you're hanging around my brother! I want to tell you that I missed being around you and being reckless around camp and I miss sneaking food from the trucks and eating our findings under trees! And most of all, I missed you, Adriana." Ben finished, coming closer to me and trying to give me a hug. What the hell? When did he get so damn sappy?

"Ben get off of me!" I exclaimed, pushing him away. "Let's just go to the camp, and don't try that speech...ever again. It makes you sound like freaking Edward Cullen. Mkay?"

The walk to camp was silent, except when Ben directed me places. He knew the area very well, apparently. Before we arrived I broke the silence, "What happened to your face?" I winced, finally taking in his injuries, the injuries that Clemons inflicted. Ben looked at me, and waited a long time before responding. "I wasn't killed in the attack, but the bomb got me pretty badly…" I winced again, not being able to imagine what kind of pain he's in.

We were silent after that.

We arrived back at Charleston right before dawn. I was happy to see that Hal was taking watch and let us in immediately. He attacked me in a hug and turned to Ben. "Where've you been, bud?" He asked before smiling and hugging his younger brother. Ben wasn't sure of himself and hesitated before hugging back. I saw Ben tried to hide a smile and I rolled my eyes. He wasn't staying here. He just should stop trying to make peace and stop pretending that everything's okay and just leave. I want nothing to do with him. _Yeah, sure_, the voice in my head told me. I scoffed to myself.

After that brotherly heart-to-heart, I shrugged and we entered the camp, my exhaustion catching up to me. I sighed when I saw my father. He ran over to me and crushed me in a hug.  
"Where have you been all night! I've been so worried about you, _mija_!" My dad exclaimed frantically. I shrugged and motioned toward the entrance of Charleston. I saw my dad visibly stiffen when he saw Ben. I looked down and excused myself to our sleeping quarters. No matter how hungry I was, this exhaustion (and headache from all of the craziness) is too much to bear…

"I have to go find my dad!" Ben shouted, running frantically to find him. Despite my exhaustion I ran after him. "Ben, wait up!"

A couple army men tried stopping us but we pushed through Charleston. "I need to see my dad _now_!" Ben insisted, and finally, we located Tom Mason in Manchester's office. We bursted through the doors and Ben simply said, "Our camp, we were attacked," clearly out of breath. Tom looked at both of our frantic faces and got up. "We need to find out who did this. Did anyone survive?"

"I'm not sure. I just ran. I just saw the flashes and the bombs and something hit me in the head." Ben explained. "Then let's move out." Tom Mason declared.  
~~~~~~

I pulled Ben aside as we were on our way to where the attack was. "Ben, I saw who-"  
"Not now, Adriana, we're busy. I'll talk to you later."

Ben stalked off to join his father in convincing Clemons to go on their mission. _Clemons_. That son of a-

"Adriana! We're leaving." Hal called over to me and I nodded. So much for trying to catch the crook.

As soon as we arrived at camp, I tried to talk to Ben again but he shut down my attempt. Karma, I guess. I stayed in the Med ward for a while too, attending to flu patients and such. Around 2pm, I was too exhausted to keep going, so, again, I made my way to the "house" I shared with my dad. _This time, God, can I really get some shut eye? _I prayed.

I awoke again at sunset. _Whoa, I slept a good 5 hours_, I thought. I felt rested, but I was still famished. Maybe the mess hall will still have some food. As I was walking to the mess hall, I set my sights on the oldest Mason child.

"Hal!" I called out to him and waved as he turned and smiled at me. We've obviously become better friends lately (plus my dad actually likes him).

"Hey, Adriana! What's up? I haven't seen you all day since you and Ben got in." Hal's charming smile never failed to dazzle me…wait, what?

"Oh, yeah, Ben. Is he still here? And I've kinda been sleeping all day, haha. I just woke up and I'm totally famished!" I replied.

"Ben is going with my dad, Weaver, and some other people from the 2nd Mass on some top secret mission or something. I didn't want to go… I actually wanted to stay back here with you." Hal looked up at me hopefully and my stomach did a back flip. What were my feelings for Hal? I feel like we're friends. And isn't he into Lourdes? Or Maggie? I don't even know, this boy is confusing.

"Oh." I replied simply.

"Yeah, but I have to leave, actually right now, but I just wanted to say goodbye to you." he stated. I looked up at him skeptically and was ready to say my goodbyes when he added, "Oh, wait! There's something else!" Hal reached into his bag with a smirk. What he pulled out pleasantly surprised me.

"Oh my gosh, Hal! Where did you get this?!" I jumped up in happiness, gaping at the gold and amber studded rosary in his hand. He seemed please with my reaction. "Ohmygosh, Hal it's beautiful! Can you put it on me?" My brown doe eyes are full of joy and hope right now, nothing could be better than being able to keep my faith alive properly.

"Sure, Adriana, here," I turned to face Hal and he helped me put the necklace on and I looked down at it in awe. It's absolutely beautiful.

"And so are you," Hal whispered in my ear. Had I said that out loud? Whoops.  
Wait rewind. Did Hal Mason just call me beautiful? My breathing hitched and I turned back around to him.

"Right, well, thank you so much, Hal! I really appreciate this gift, but maybe we can take a walk tomorrow or something to catch up. I really should eat something," I said, walking off.

"Hey, wait, I haven't eaten yet either, I'll come with you!" Jeez, what is up with him today?

"Didn't you say you have to leave?" I cough. I grabbed a bite and sat down at one of the tables, Hal sat in front of me. He seemed to ignore me.

"So have you spoken to Ben about, well, everything that's been going on with him yet?" Hal asked, trying to start up conversation. I sighed and shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"No." I replied, indifferent.

"Alright, I'm done," I told Hal. "You should go." I suggested, a fake smile covering my face. Hal held out his arms to me and I embraced him. A harmless, friendly, goodbye.

"Alright, one last thing. Close your eyes," Hal whispered in the night. The sun had completely set when I was eating.  
"As if I could even see in this darkness!" I joked.

Hal then put his right hand over my eyes and put his left on the small of my back and I shivered. I opened my eyes again to see Hal staring at me and I blushed. I _can't _like him. Snap out of it, Adriana. Stop, stop, stop…

To ease myself of these thoughts, I asked Hal, "So what's been going on with you, Lourdes, and Maggie? A little love triangle there?" I shuffled my feet and Hal didn't hesitate to answer.

"Maggie and I are too complicated for each other. It would never work out. And Lourdes…she's still grieving Jamil. She's not ready. And I don't want to be with her. I have my sights set on someone else." He finished, looking at me intently. I met his gaze and looked at my feet again, biting my lip.  
I looked at him and my eyes told the million words my mouth could not. But I think he misunderstood, because Hal started to lean in.  
And he kissed me.

_No_. This is wrong. So wrong. I jumped back and pushed him.

"Hal, I'm sorry, I don't think of you like that. _Go._ Now." I told him, walking back to help Dr. Glass.

Hal and I can't be together. We just can't.

We can't because of my feelings for Ben.

**A/N: Chapters 5 and 6 revised for the season premiere.**

**Much love!  
~A**


	7. Chapter 7

"Surviving? Hell No, I'm Living"

**By: Ally babyy3**

**Summary:** The end has come, aliens everywhere. But for fourteen-year-old Adriana, it's so much more. She's running across the country with her dad, and encounters Weaver, Tom, and the rest of the group. But it seems like one "freakshow" has caught her watchful eye. This is my first FS story. *Set after Compass* Ben/OC. Potentially AU.

_"Maggie and I are too complicated for each other. It would never work out. And Lourdes…she's still grieving Jamil. She's not ready. And I don't want to be with her. I have my sights set on someone else." He finished, looking at me intently. I met his gaze and looked at my feet again, biting my lip.  
I looked at him and my eyes told the million words my mouth could not. But I think he misunderstood, because Hal started to lean in._

And he kissed me.

_No. This is wrong. So wrong. I jumped back and pushed him._

_"Hal, I'm sorry, I don't think of you like that. Go. Now." I told him, walking back to help Dr. Glass._

_Hal and I can't be together. We just can't._

_We can't because of my feelings for Ben._

Chapter 7

"Hal, what the hell?" I heard a voice from behind me as I was walking away from Hal. I knew who's voice it was. _Ben's_. Uh oh. I spun around, jogging back to where Ben was now screaming in Hal's face. All I heard was curses out of Ben's mouth.  
"Whoa, Benji, calm down!" I jumped in between Hal and Ben's argument. "Why are you yelling? Stop yelling, just talk to me." My voice softened when I saw his expression. Anger. Betrayal. Hurt. But why? Ben's mouth turned into a line and he sighed, trying to calm himself a bit.  
"Nothing, Baby Girl, it's nothing, honestly, don't worry about it. I was just telling Hal how he was holding up our _very _important mission. Right, Hal?" Ben gave his brother a look I couldn't understand. Hal shifted his weight between legs and coughed.  
"Uh, yeah. We should go. Hey, actually Adriana, you should come with us!" Hal suggested with his signature smile. Ben immediately responded for me.  
"Actually, I don't think that's such a good idea, this mission is dangerous, she'd be much safer here." I rolled my eyes and glared daggers at Ben. I am not a child. So who is he to be treating me like one? He's definitely not gonna get me to stay now.  
"_Actually_, Ben, I can take care of myself. ("I wasn't trying to imply that you-") _And_, Hal, I'd love to accompany you on your mission. I mean, I am a part of the 2nd Mass, yes? Weaver should know how I am with a gun by now, if he has a problem with it, he can stick it where the sun don't shine. My dad as well." I smiled and clapped my hands together. "So boys, who'd like to start organizing me a gun? We've gotta get a move on!" I pushed past the boys with smirk on my face while they were left with their mouths agape.  
"Well? Baby Girl wants her gun. _Now_."

* * *

We creeped through the halls of the Skitter facility with great caution, we couldn't get caught.

But, of course, we did, and a creepy blonde harnessed girl walked towards us. My dad, also on the mission, pulled me toward him as I struggled to not look afraid.  
"Karen." I heard Tom acknowledge her. Isn't that Hal's ex girlfriend's name?  
"Hello, Tom," she replied  
smugly. And before we knew it, we we're tied up in alien ropes. She walked around all of us and stopped at various times. Once to greet Ben, another to "greet" Hal, and just when she looked like she was going to stop in front of Anne, she stopped in front of me. Great. Well, better me than the pregnant lady.  
"Ooo, fresh meat. Who are you, Shirley Temple?" she said, regarding to my curls. I laughed in her face.

"Actually, I am. Care for some animal crackers in your soup, bitch?" I spat at her. She glared at me and pointed her electric weapon at me.  
"One more word and I'll shove this down your throat," she threatened.

Ben then spoke up, "Don't touch her, Karen, or I'll—" Karen shouted, "Shut up!" and the ropes then covered Ben's mouth as he struggled. I almost screamed. How dare she hurt him! I was enraged, but my poker face still remained. "He your boyfriend now?" Karen asked. "I'd go for Hal; he's a better kisser, to be honest."

I struggled in the ropes. _Oh_, how I wanted to give her a good one in the jaw. Ben kissed that alien wicked bitch of the west? My anger showed now. I guess since I couldn't punch her in the face, I could spit in her face.

Yeah, not my best move ever.

Before Ben or my father could try to object, I experienced the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I screamed out, and the pain felt never-ending. I felt the electricity flow through every nerve ending in my body, and I felt like I was dying. I kicked, cried, screamed, but I would not beg for mercy. She (well, _it_, rather) was _not_ worth it. I would not lower myself to a state of her satisfaction. Oh no. So instead I screamed, "BEN!" I screamed it until the breath in my lungs ran out, until my throat was screaming along with me. I wanted Ben, if there was ever a time in my life I needed saving, it was now.

I don't even think I was coherent at this point. My body was shaking rabidly against my will and my head started to pound. It seemed like eternity later when Karen finally stopped.  
Then the alien vermin chuckled and stroked her weapon. "That does a body good, huh? Bet that taught you a lesson." That's the last thing I heard when I blacked out.

* * *

"Adriana! Adriana wake up. Please wake up for me, Adri. Baby Girl, please? You need to wake up, please. Come back to me…" I heard his voice begging for me to wake up, and I wanted to, I wanted to go back to him. But I couldn't open my eyes. They felt so heavy. Actually, my whole body did. It's like I couldn't control my body. I heard Weaver's voice next.  
"Who's gonna tell her when she wakes up?" What? Tell me what?  
"I think you should tell her, Ben." This voice was Hal's. Next a swarm of agreements. My head hurt too much to keep trying to understand and make out all the sounds, and I passed out again.

* * *

The next time I woke I heard no noise. No voices around me, no shuffled sounds of people walking in the hallways. I struggled to open my eyes but I was able to open my right eye slightly. The room around me was dark, but I wasn't in my housing compound, I was I the med facility. But I wasn't alone. Next to my bed sat Ben in one of those super uncomfortable hospital chairs. I rubbed my eyes and got them to both completely open and adjust to the darkness. I yawned.

I propped myself up on my shoulders and then sat up on the bed to get a better look at him. I wasn't sure if I should still be upset with him. I mean, I guess he left for a reason, a reason no one else could understand. But yet, he didn't tell anyone except for his father. He could've told me. We're best friends! Or, at least we were. Are we still? I don't even know. I wanted to talk to him. Even to just say hi. To say hi and hug him and say I'm sorry. And just to have my friend back with me. But it's the middle of the night, and I don't want to wake him.  
I guess all I could really do now is go back to sleep.

When I awoke Ben was gone. I felt kind of disappointed, but when else could I expect? Benny-bear and I are in a sort of tough spot. I coughed a lot and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach where Karen (_it_) freaking electrocuted me. Well, I guess I'm gonna try to stop coughing now.

I sat up and got off of my bed, trying to look around for Dr. Glass, and didn't see her. The only other person here was Lourdes.  
"Hey! Lourdes!" I called her. She turned around from reviewing a patient's file and smiled. I walked (barely) over to her and was out of breath. I walked like 5 meters. Seriously?

"You should be in bed, Adriana," Lourdes scolded playfully. I rolled my eyes playfully and shrugged.  
"Me, in bed? Nah, I should be out defending the world from aliens!" I laughed and felt the sharp pain in my stomach again. Okay, no laughing either. "Have you seen Ben?" Lourdes said no and I asked her when I could leave this butthole med place. She examined me once more and then told me I could go but told me to take it easy ("And no defending the world from aliens for at least a week!"). I laughed again – not a great idea.

When I left the med center, I looked everywhere for Ben. After like a half an hour of searching, I finally found him in his housing compound doing pushups (shirtless).  
"Ooh, Benji bear trying to be big and bad and tough for the Skitters?" I joked. Ben looked up and when he met my eyes, he breathed out sigh of relief. He jumped up and attacked me in a giant bear hug. Well, a better description would be that he's squeezing me half to death.  
"Oh, Adri, I was so worried about you. Baby Girl, _please_ don't be a smart ass to Karen ever again," Ben said into my hair.  
"Ben…can't… _breathe_!" I tried to get out and Ben immediately separated the hug and apologized.

"S'alright, Benji. And no promises about Karen. But you should know more than me, you're the one who sucked face with her." I rolled my eyes. Ben sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.  
"Must you always start arguments? " I shrugged, indifferent. "You're the one who sucked face with Hal." Well then.  
"We did _not_ suck face. _He_ kissed _me_, and I pushed him away, you saw that. God, Ben, don't you get it? I don't have feelings for Hal, I never did." _I've always had feelings for you_, I said in my head. "Why do you care so much, anyways? You're not my father; _you_ don't get to yell at me when someone kisses me!" I spat.  
Ben looked taken aback. His mouth hung open, speechless. It seemed like forever before he could muster out a sentence. "Okay, I understand. I shouldn't be getting upset. I should actually be going…somewhere. I'll see you later, Adri." Ben started to put on his shirt and walk out of the room.  
"No! Ben, wait, please. I'm sorry . I shouldn't have said that." I wrapped my hand around his arm and pulled him closer to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into another hug, going onto my tip-toes and breathing in his scent. If there was ever a time that I should tell him how I feel it's now.  
"Ben, there'something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time and this is really hard for me to say but-" he interrupted me. And, keeping his arms around me waist, lifted his head up to look at me.  
"Actually, there's something really important I need to tell you too," he whispered. Does he feel the same way? Is that what he's going to say? "Adriana, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this and I'm so, _so_ sorry…" What is he talking about?

"Adri, your dad…" What about my dad? Gosh, can't he just spit it out? "Your dad didn't come back with us from the mission. We lost him and Dai. I'm so sorry, Adriana. He's gone."

And with that my whole world seemed to fall apart.

**A/N: Aww her daddy died, boo :( Next chapter will jump 7 months to the start of season 3. Hopefully I'll have it up before the next episode.  
Don't forget to leave a review! I know how guys follow the story and what-not, but I'd like to hear what you guys think :)**

**Til next time!  
~A**


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